A delegation from the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), met with India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New York on September 24 to discuss several Indian-American issues and areas of cooperation.
The delegation was spearheaded by GOPIO international chairman Dr Thomas Abraham and included GOPIO international vice president Ram Gadhavi, chief of the advisory board HR Shah, international coordinator for North America Dr Rajeev Mehta, GOPIO International Chamber of Commerce co-chair Prakash Shah, New York Area coordinator Lal Motwani, GOPIO-Connecticut past-president Shelly Nichani, GOPIO-New York president Beena Kothari, GOPIO-North Jersey president Rajul Shah, health council chair Dr Asha Samant, science/tech council chair Shailesh Naik, and media council chair Nami Kaur.
Among the issues discussed with Swaraj included PIO youth participation in the Know Your India Programme from the developed countries; Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019 and GOPIO’s active participation; the launch of a GOPIO International Chamber of Commerce; the demonetisation issue; Aadhaar Card policy confusion for NRIs; the Middle East NRI issues; diaspora women’s issues; and NRI/PIO participation in Make in India, Clean India, pooling/transferring new technologies for India.
In addition to the delegation and Swaraj, Consul General of India in New York Sandeep Chakravorty also participated in the meeting.
The meeting ended with a positive discussion on how GOPIO can play an instrumental role to support the Indian government’s objectives with respect to Indian nationals living abroad, the organization said in a news release.
Swaraj encouraged the GOPIO officials to continue engagement with their local congressmen and other legislative officials to advocate for Diaspora rights and positions within their adopted homelands, it said.